Nintendo Switch: What is Joy-con drift and why are people suing Nintendo?

Nintendo is being sued over it's Switch console

A child and his parent are suing Nintendo over issues with 'Joy-con drift'.

Joy-con drift is an issue that can affect the controllers on the Switch console, and can cause characters to move across the screen by themselves without players touching the controller.

Since Nintendo released the Switch in 2017, there have been other legal complaints over similar issues.

The US family who have filed legal action, say they bought a Switch console in December 2018, and began to encounter Joy-con drift issues within a month.

They say the problem was so bad that they had to replace the Joy-con controllers with new ones.

Several months later they reported that they had encountered the same issue with the new Joy-con controllers.

Their legal complaint argues that Nintendo knows about the drifting issues, but continues to sell the console without making it clear to buyers that they may experience the drifting issue.

The official complaint reads, "Defendant (Nintendo) continues to market and sell the products with full knowledge of the defect and without disclosing the Joy-Con Drift defect to consumers in its marketing, promotion, or packaging."

What is Joy-con drift?

What's happening to people's Joy-cons?

Joy-con drift or drifting is an issue which affects some Nintendo Switch consoles.

It causes the the analogue sticks on the controllers to randomly move characters around on the screen, when they are not being physically moved by the player.

This can be very frustrating for those experiencing these issues, as it makes it harder to select specific options in games, or move a character where you want them to go.

The cause of drifting is not officially known, however some people believe it could be because of dust getting under the rubber seal and onto the joystick, or worn down contact circuits inside the controller.

What are Nintendo doing to solve the issue?

Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa recently apologised

Nintendo US released an official statement about Joy-con drift in July 2019.

"At Nintendo, we take great pride in creating quality products and we are continuously making improvements to them. We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-con controllers are not responding correctly. We want our consumers to have fun with Nintendo Switch, and if anything falls short of this goal we always encourage them to visit http://support.nintendo.com so we can help."

In June earlier this year, Nintendo's president, Shuntaro Furukawa, formally apologised for the problems Joy-con drift has been causing for some people.

"Regarding the Joy-Con, we apologize for any trouble caused to our customers," Furukawa said in his statement. "We are continuing to aim to improve our products."

Some people felt frustrated that it took so long for Nintendo to acknowledge the issue and help people to fix it.

Nintendo now has a special page on it's US website, where people can get support and free repairs if they are experiencing drifting issues.

Here in the UK if you are experiencing issues with your controllers Nintendo recommends filling out a form for repair or replacement using their Customer Support website.

The service is free in the UK if you are under warranty - which is a legal agreement that in this case gives people in the UK 24 months of free repairs and support from the date the console was bought.

If their warranty has run out, people may have to pay for repairs or replacements, and this can be expensive, however Nintendo UK has said that it may offer free repairs even if the warranty has run out.

Has anyone else taken legal action against Nintendo?

The first class action lawsuit filed against Nintendo about Joy-con drift was in July 2019.

The law firm of Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith (CSK&D) say that the Joy-con controllers are "defective" as a result of drifting, "leading users to experience drift issues."

The case has now moved into something called arbitration - which means they will try to sort out the issue without going to court.

In September this year, a French consumer group filed a complaint against Nintendo, after receiving thousands of accounts from people experiencing drifting issues.

They said: "The company (Nintendo) continues to sell controllers which are intended to break down before the end of the first year of use, knowingly" and are asking for Nintendo to review how it makes it's consoles, to avoid problems in the future.

What can you do if you have Joy-con drift?

Here are three possible options to help with Joy-con drift.

• Nintendo suggests you can try to "re-calibrate" the controllers. Although many people have reported this does not always successfully solve the problem.

• Gamers can contact Nintendo's Support centre and ask for a repair or replacement. However, if people are out of warranty, this option may cost money, and you could have to wait a long time to get it fixed.

• Finally, some people just choose to buy a replacement controller. However, a new controller costs £69.99 on the Nintendo website, and there is no real guarantee that you won't encounter the same issue again.

Have you experienced any problems with Joy-con drift? Let us know in the comments.